Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-07-23
CHILDREN'S SAVINGS.
1he FIRST SCHOOL IN AMERICA TO TEACH PRACTICAL ECONOMY.

The System of School Savings Banks .s
 ErtssIned by Catherine B>ldwin-Hos
 the PsanS,s Arc Gathered In-The Re |
 suits.
 The system of school savings banks as explained by Catherine Baldwin in liar nar's Bazar is one of the most practical and sensible schemes that have been put forth for some time, it being really prob able that the quality claimed for it, that 'sschool banks are to the lesson in thrift what pen. ink and paper are to the lesson in writing" I" is in it. No better lesson can be taught a child in any branch than lesson in ''consequences." Children, and for that matter children of a larger growth, have to be taught the conse- 0uences of this, that or the other folly be- fore they learn to shun them, and there IS no reason why teaching them the conse- ouences of wisdom should not be a lesson equally strong A child that learns that pennies saved mean something a great deal better than sticks of candy and penny ices-perhaus a whole week in the coun- try or even a goat team-iS learning valuable lesson. The amount of money saved may not be great, the sum may be spent whenever it amounts to s2 or S5, but the small capitalist is learning the valuable lesson of the Buddhists-sef control. as well as thrift, the first object.
 The first school in America to adopt this savings bank plan did SO in 1885, the principal, a woman, too, by the way, re- cognizing how great power lay behind so apparently a simple beginning. Out of 4J0 scholars 403 are depositOrs, and they saved from March, lSS5, to January, 1887, $2, 3S2, an average of S1.9l to each child. On Jan. 1, 1881, seven schools in the United States adopted savings banks, q small beginning when compared to the number of the same organizations in Europe, it is true, but a beginning never theless. France, the only country with a national system, has, Miss Baldwin says, 24,OOO of these banks, whose savings amounted to nearly S2, ,iOO,OOO.
 A SCHOOL BANKS METHODS.
 The modus operandi of a school bank is as follows, told in our authority's own words:
 Having arranged with some savings bank to receive deposits, the principal of school gives notice to the several classes that every Monday morning their teacher, when calling the roll, will receive their small savings from one cent up to fifty centsl. On making the first deposit a pupil is given card with his or her name, date and amount deposited, re- ceipted by the teacher; this card the pupil keeps, presenting 1t every time deposit is made, the card having dates for the whole school year.
 After the first few collections when, like any other new drill, children are Swk- ward, fifteen minutes Is sufficient to re- oeive n class of fifty The teacher ap- points some bright pupil collector. who takes the card and money from each child and hands it to the teacher, who counts thnmoney, receipts the card and returns it - the scholar The ordinary roll book serves as a record book. For instance, name is called--'Jane Smith She makes answer, Three cents, and three cents is entered in the savings column opposite Jane Smiths name If nothing has been saved a cross sO indicates, and merely attendance is marked. The principal, who is the de fac;O treasurer, requires special book for names of depositors and amounts saved, as the savings of all classes are handed 10 him, and he sends them each day to the savings bank, get ting reccip; for the whole amount. When a pupil has saved twenty-five cents tor any other sum agreed onl he Is given bank book and becomes a regular con tributOr-although interest is rarely paid on very small sums-and until he receives a book lis name does not g on tbe journal of the savings bank, but his savings are kept to the credit of the prin- cipal in what is called q general fund.- These pupil bank books kept by the prin- cipal are sent to the hank monthly tO be balanced. They can be taken home at regular dates to be shown to parents: and during vacation, or when a pupil leaves. he recAives lis book. Money can he drawn out at any time, with the consent of parents or guardians, by procuring the principals signature. After leaving school permanently Q scholar can stlll continue to use the school blank book for other savings"
 THE INFLUENCE OF BABES
 GoOdy goOdy books have occasionally examples of a child's reforming its de- praved parents, and it was F. Anstey, think, who wrote an essay on the bring ing up of parents, but it is not often that we meet examples of ''The Influence of Babes in real life. l was talking with the receiving teller of dime savings bank the other day, and he told me Q neat little  story quite out of the ordinary Two small boys came one day and took out book, putting in fifty cents each. Every Saturday night after that they came reg ularly, with their fifty cents apiece, and sometimes, after birthday or something of that sort, apparently, with more. When they had each saved hundred dollars they then told their father and and proudly showed their bank books He was completely taken aback, for he, a man with a good income, had never saved a cent. IL opened his eyes, and before l knew it, almost" said the man at the desk, "he had Sl ,500 here. What he did with it, I do no; know, but know he's rich man now.n
 So, you see, if these school hanks are encouraged, and the children take hold in earnest, there is no knowing what they may do for us some day. We may be rich before we know it,-New York Graphic.